I always tell people that it is never too early to begin the sorting and clearing process since this is such a time consuming process. Here are several suggestions for things that can be done far in advance of any later-life move – things that you will be so glad you took care of early rather than waiting until the last minute to do. How do I know? Because the items discussed below are all things which often bog people down in the midst of making a later life move. Anything you can do to tackle these items now will be like money and time in the bank down the road:

Start shredding old financial and tax records

Most of my older adult clients typically have piles and boxes full of old financial and tax records stored somewhere in their homes. These are items that are best shredded before they are disposed of – a task that can be very time consuming in the midst of everything else that needs to be done in preparation for a later life move.

Before making any decision on what to keep or discard, check with your accountant and/or lawyer to find out which papers they advise keeping for legal and tax purposes. Anything that needs to be saved should be compiled, boxed and clearly labeled for storage.

As for the remaining papers, records and documents, most should be shredded before they are discarded. The exception to this would be records that are so extremely old and outdated that they can be safely thrown away with other garbage. For the papers and documents that need to be shredded, you may be able to do this yourself with your own shredder, if time and energy permit. Just pace yourself and don’t try to do this job in one sitting. For large quantities of documents and papers, see if there is a local resource for volume shredding of documents since this is often the most efficient way to handle this task.

The key is not to be forced to rush through the sorting and decision-making on what to keep and what to shred and toss. Get this job done early and stay on top of it as you move forward. You’ll be very relieved this work is behind you when the time comes to make your move.

Clean/clear your garage

This is another job best done far in advance of making a later-life move. And it’s a job best done during a nice season of the year when you won’t suffocate or freeze doing this work. That’s why it’s so wonderful to get the garage taken care of early because you will be able to choose the timing for this job. Garages tend to be a dumping ground for lots of stuff in a typical household and usually entail a significant amount of work to clean and clear.

Another bit of advice: Get some help with this if you can because it’s a big one. Don’t think about keeping things that might come in handy at some point – be realistic and only keep those things you know you absolutely will use. For the rest, donate items that are still of use but have little monetary value. If there are things that could be sold, you might want to consider holding on to these until you have other items you are ready to sell from inside your house as well. As for trash, dispose of everything that you can in your regular garbage pickup. For hazardous waste items and large rubbish, read on to the following two items.

Large rubbish disposal

In some situations you will not be able to use your regular garbage service for all the trash disposal needed after cleaning and clearing your garage. This generally happens when you have a garage full of bulky items: old tires, wood, old yard equipment, old appliances, rolled fencing, old carpeting, etc. There are several ways you can handle the disposal of these items:

• One is to watch for your city’s garbage service to offer bulky collection services. In my market, this is offered free of charge 2-3 times a year and is a great value if you have bulky items for disposal. If you don’t know if this service is available, call your city garbage service and find out.

• If this option is not available to you, is there a friend or family member with a truck and a strong back who might be willing to haul these items to the city dump for you? If so, take advantage of their assistance!

• You can also call a hauling service to pick up your items and take them to the dump for you. There is a charge for this service and the charge can be considerable if you have a significant amount of items for disposal. This is the primary reason I encourage people to get this job done early since time gives you more disposal options. In most cases, when I am clearing out a garage for clients, I have to use a hauling service because I am under the gun to get everything done quickly. Plan ahead and get your large rubbish disposed of early and you may very well save money as well as worry about this big job.

Get rid of hazardous waste

Hazardous and home chemical waste (e.g., paint, some chemical cleaners, old auto supplies) needs to be collected and disposed of properly.

• First, check your city’s guidelines for hazardous waste. Labels on newer home chemicals and cleaning supplies may also provide information about safe disposal.

• Next, check your home and garage for hazardous waste items that you are ready to dispose of at this time. If you find something that you can’t identify, add it to the hazardous waste pile and let the experts decide how to handle it.

• Finally, check with your city garbage service about hazardous waste collection. There is home pickup available for residents 65 years and older in my market, and may be in your market as well. If not, most cities have one or more local drop-off sites for hazardous waste. Again, take care of this sooner rather than later and you’ll be glad you did.

Donate your old clothes

At least once or twice a year (spring and/or fall are best for this), go through your closet and pull out any clothes and shoes that are old, worn out or that don’t fit any more. If the item still has some life left in it, donate it to your charity of choice. If the item is stained, damaged or completely worn out, throw it out with your trash. Clothing doesn’t last forever and needs to be gone through on a regular basis. Again, this is a time and energy consuming project that many older adults struggle with when it is put off or not touched or thought about until this task is prompted by a later life move.

Clothing, like material possessions, should be simplified as one gets older. Keep only the items of clothing you know you will wear in the coming year and let go of the items that no longer fit you or your lifestyle at this stage of your life.

Sort through old pictures

Last but not least, start sorting through old family pictures as soon as possible. This is a great winter or rainy day project and one that is best started far in advance of a later-life move. This job is just too time consuming to even think of doing in the midst of planning and preparing for a move.

In most cases, when I have a client with lots of old family pictures, all I can do is recommend that we box the photos until after the move when they will hopefully have the time and energy to sort through these boxes. There is just too much preparation work that needs to be taken care of that I can’t risk using my client’s energy and time for this task. A recent example of this was a client of mine who ended up with ten file boxes full of photos that she needed to sort through. This was a task she was not looking forward to tackling after getting through her move and the clearing of her house.

Be very discriminate with this sorting process.

• Eliminate all the pictures that will hold little interest for others - like scenery pictures taken on vacation, or pictures of people you worked with 30 years ago.

• Keep your favorite pictures of loved ones and also think about passing on pictures to those who will greatly appreciate them - like your siblings or your children or grandchildren.

• This is also a fun project to share with family members. For the pictures you decide to keep or pass on, make sure that every photo is labeled. Photos are often part of the legacy you will pass on to your family and future generations – but they are meaningless if the subject, time and place of the photo are not identified.

Again, anything you can do ahead of time to start the sorting and clearing of the accumulated “stuff” of your lifetime will help immensely when the time comes to make your later-life move. Do at least some of this work while you have the time, energy and flexibility for this work. Get started on this now – you’ll be glad you did!

Many of these ideas come from experiences with helping my parents with their downsizing move from their home of 34 years in 1996.

These tips and insights should help whether you’re the older adult ready to face this task, or whether you’re the adult child who has offered to help your parents with their living transition.

How to get started

Begin in the areas of the house that you are currently not using. Many older adults are still living in the same houses where they raised their families.

In most situations, there are areas of the house that are currently not being used – upstairs bedrooms, the basement family room or others.

Start the sorting and clearing process in these rooms because it will be least disruptive to everyday life.  These areas also often contain lots of items that have not been used in a considerable length of time and that will not be missed when passed on to children, grandchildren, charity or the auction house.

Start with the large items

The rationale for this? It’s easier to start with furniture and the bigger pieces and you’ll feel like you are making some progress. If you start with the small items, you may get overwhelmed and frustrated before you even get started. With large items, either prepare a list of your decisions (e.g.: dresser – keep; will work well in a smaller bedroom) or use stickers and mark the items as you decide what to do with each piece.

Sort the items in each room as follows:

• Items that you want to keep as you move forward into the later stages of your life (this includes items you are not currently ready to part with or items that you definitely know you will want to move with you to your new home).
• Items that will be passed on to family or friends.
• Items that will be sold via a garage sale or auction.
• Items that will be given to charity.
• Items that need to be thrown away.

Again, keep a list of your decisions, separate the items into separate piles or mark the items with stickers.

Get rid of as much as possible through downsizing

What does this mean?

• This means putting items to be thrown away into garbage bags and setting out this trash for pickup each week.
• This means calling your charity of choice and arranging for a pickup as soon as you have enough items to justify their making a trip.
• This means asking family and friends to make arrangements to get their items or to have their belongings mailed to them.

I always tell people that one of the easiest places to start with clearing a house is telling their family that it’s time to come get their stuff! I had things at my mom and dad’s house from my childhood and school days that I required that my mother keep for me for years. I made a trip home two years before they moved to collect my belongings from my old upstairs bedroom and closet. Guess what happened? Most of these things didn’t last even six months once they were taking up room in my house! So don’t feel guilty if you take this step. Tell your kids that it’s time for them to collect the things that they still have stored at your house.

Allow plenty of flexibility and time

Plan to spend maybe one or two hours at a time (at most) working through the sorting process. This is not a task that you can do for long periods of time at any age – there will be too many emotions and memories stirred up because in essence you are sorting through the years of your life. Take time for recalling memories, to shed tears as you need to and to share stories with friends and family. And be easy on yourself and flexible when making decisions.

This is a very important and valuable part of the later life transition process. Allow yourself time to remember and to grieve losses. Don’t rush yourself to make too many decisions at once. If you need to discuss with family or friends what to do with certain items or belongings, take time to do so. If you can’t make a decision about something, then set it aside and think about it for awhile until you do come to a decision. Also remember that you can change your mind about any item as long as it’s still in your possession. If you’ve started early and are planning ahead, you should be able to work at a pace that is comfortable for you and your situation.

Focus, focus, focus

For many people, starting the sorting and decision-making process is as difficult at walking out to a yard piled with leaves in the fall and deciding where to begin raking. The task appears to be so overwhelming! All you can do in this situation is to start somewhere and to approach it step-by-step, pile-by-pile until the job is finished.

I stress keeping focused as much as possible because it’s so easy to do a little bit here, a little bit there and never feel like you’re getting anywhere. I see this happen with my clients all the time. I leave them with a list of things to do and return after a week and though they tell me they’ve been very busy, I can’t see that anything has been accomplished. And neither can they. Start working in a specific room in your house or even a specific area of this room (say a closet or drawer) if you need to start smaller. Stick with what you are working on until it is finished. You’ll feel better because you’ll be able to see what you have accomplished and this will give you momentum to continue the sorting and downsizing process.

Remember the goal is to simplify your life

I always tell my clients that they don’t need to get rid of everything but they do need to pare down their years of accumulated belongings to the key things, the favorite things they want to have around them and that they need or enjoy using. Think about what you really use in your home on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis and I bet you’ll see that this amounts to a fraction of what you have in your house.

Try to think of sorting and downsizing your belongings as a natural process of completing and releasing – like leaves falling from the tree in autumn. You can do this and believe me, you will feel so good when this job is done and you have new, clutter-free space in your home and in your life!

Changes, changes, changes

Although I read and hear over and over again about the value of “aging in place” (remaining in your family home as you age), I just don’t buy it. Just as we change throughout our lives, our lifestyle and housing needs also change.

If you’re like most people, you’ve lived in several different places over the course of our life. All of these living situations fit you and your lifestyle at the time, but think what your life would have been like if you had never moved from the first home where you lived after you were born. Think of all the life experiences you would have missed!

I believe the same is true with moving on later in life.  Your current housing situation should be a good fit for where you are now in your life. Typically this move will take you to a setting with less responsibility, more available support and assistance and hopefully more opportunities for interaction with others.

Your current lifestyle should also allow you the time and freedom to do more of what you enjoy, and to have new experiences.

Since I’m sure you’re aware of many of the pros and cons of staying where you are currently living, let’s look at the pros and cons of moving on:

“Moving on” later in life:

• If you are proactive in deciding to move, you can choose a housing option that better meets your current needs, and make plans for your future needs as well.
• You can remove yourself from the responsibility of house and yard maintenance.
• You get to decide when and where you move as well as determine what happens to your belongings as you “lighten the load.”
• You have a chance to make new friends who share your current interests; you may also feel revitalized living in a new setting with new opportunities to meet people and do things.
• You will need to leave your current home, but you can always take the good memories with you.
• You save your family the responsibility and burden of making decisions about your living situation and your belongings later.

Keeping some sense of control in your life will contribute to your overall functioning and well being as you age. That’s why I am so convinced of the value in older adults “taking the bull by the horn” and letting go and moving on in their later years.

If you make this decision, you have the opportunity to focus on yourself instead of focusing on house and yard maintenance. You can enhance your own successful aging by spending time on physical exercise you enjoy, taking full advantage of new experiences and opportunities to learn and grow and engaging in life and enjoying a new network of friends.

I think this is great! What do you think? Are you open to considering the positive aspects of a later life move?